


we had a beautiful magic love there

by jamieclayton



Category: The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/F, i am so done with them, this is soft as fuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:55:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27216778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jamieclayton/pseuds/jamieclayton
Summary: the relationship between jamie and dani's tea over the years
Relationships: Dani Clayton/Jamie, dani/jamie
Comments: 10
Kudos: 117





	we had a beautiful magic love there

Jamie is a woman of many contradictions. When one only expects this and that to be mutually exclusive, she comes out being this and that. And that is precisely where the magic in her lies. She is this and that, and so much more. 

One of the things that is rather common knowledge among the people who surround her is that she likes doing things her way and on her own time only. Not to say that she is not cooperative, it is only that she needs to be in control of the things that she takes part in. 

And it is especially essential that her important things are not to be tampered with; her plants, her solitude and her tea. 

There is nothing that brings her greater peace than watching her flowers bloom. The flowers that she spends day and night with. They are her companions. They know her the best. And she prefers it that way too. Just her flowers and her, in complete solitude. 

And Jamie is particular with her tea as, perhaps, the whole of Britain. And you must not toy with it. Though she is the only one who can put together her preferred cup of tea, she does not seem to mind Owen’s creation. That man surely knows his way around the kitchen. 

When Jamie hears of the new au pair, she harbours no expectation at all. She has found it to be true that expectations are the first step to disappointments. She simply hopes that she would turn out to be as nurturing and compelling as Rebecca herself but surely not as trustful. 

And then, she sees her for the first time. If she had conceived some version of her, unknowingly so, it was now thrown out the window for she could not draw up this Dani Clayton even in her wildest dreams. So, she allows herself a few seconds to take her in but not too much lest she engulfs her whole. 

She decides not to acknowledge her at all. It seems rude to do so but she figures she will not have any proper words to speak, anyway. And to be frank, she feels like she has known her all along and an introduction was not of great need. 

And the next day, Dani does something that she will never forget; she makes tea. Dani and her very American self, with the knowledge of all but tea. It was simply revolting. She butchers the hell out of it, mixing all the things at once like they would magically find their way.

Jamie may be nice but she is not nice enough to pretend to like her horrifying tea. And so, she doesn’t pretend. 

The next time Dani offers to make tea, she discourages her right away. There is no way she is downing any of that. No matter how pretty Dani is and how much she makes her stomach twist and turn. 

And this is how the relationship between Jamie and Dani’s tea begins; on a bitter note. 

* * *

The truth that Jamie believed to be the truest was that people are not worth it. Not anyone, not even herself. No one is exempt from causing pain. And all that exists is destined to an end. And you are left alone, once more. And she concluded that they require exhaustive effort that she is not willing to offer. 

But who the hell knew that Dani Clayton would come around and make a fool out of Jamie? A fool because Jamie really believed she could resist her. A fool because despite knowing that Dani’s days are timed, she gave up her defences and followed her heart to Vermont. A fool because she had let herself love Dani but well, she loves to love Dani. 

And maybe, she had not been so foolish afterall because it has been three whole years with the love of her life and they are still together. Dani is still with her.

The shadows of the past are always lurking but she knows now more than ever that she can only take one day at a time. And she will take as many days as she can have with Dani. 

But a new demon sprung up. A cold so dreadful that Jamie could hardly move about. She was confined to her bed, left to the mercy of one Dani Clayton. And she was not very happy to see Jamie like this. 

“Jamie, don’t you dare move from bed!” half yelled Dani as she chopped vegetables for their dinner. 

“You are terribly grumpy today.” 

“Maybe if my girlfriend wasn’t on the brink of death I would be less grumpy.” 

Jamie rolled her eyes then. The cold really wasn’t so bad, she thought. There is no way she is letting a small virus take her away from Dani. No, not today, virus. 

“I am perfect, poppins. I could dance right now. Bet.”

“Talk less, do more.” 

“Fine, then.” replied Jamie before slowly getting up from the bed to prove her point. If she is anything, that is stubborn. 

She walks over to stand next to Dani and makes a poor attempt at dancing. With practically no rhythm and a poor sense of balance, she swirls her legs and arms around. And then out of nowhere, she loses herself and falls right into Dani. 

“Jamie! Oh my god,” 

Dani hastily grabs onto Jamie and then carries her to the bed before gently laying her down. 

“Are you okay, my love?” 

Jamie feels a heavy weight on her chest and once she realises that it’s the cold doing tricks on her, she admits that maybe it is bad. But she would not admit it to Dani. The girl is already so burdened with thoughts of terrible things that she could not bear to worry her any more. 

“I am fine, poppins. Just a silly cold.” 

“A silly cold that is wearing you down like this is no silly cold.” 

“You see, you should stay away from me.” 

“Who is gonna take care of you then? Besides, staying away from you is no better than getting a cold.” 

Well, Dani did have a point. It was just them in their little world that they worked so hard to build. Just them and their many little, beautiful flowers. 

The next day, Jamie does something she will never forget; she asks Dani to make her tea. Her Dani who knew not any better now than she did three years back.

But she asked, anyway. Because she really did need her cup of ginger tea to survive the harsh cold. 

And Dani was just as surprised to hear Jamie say those words. 

“Can you make me tea, please?” 

But of course, Dani would do anything for her. Jamie then instructs her thoroughly on how to prepare her very special ginger tea. She guides her step by step until she finally brings her the finished product. And well, it was definitely much better now. 

And for the next two weeks, Dani makes her tea every single day. She puts all her love and effort into it because she knows how particular Jamie is with her tea. And she makes sure Jamie feels a little better every day. 

And even after Jamie gets better, so much so that she begins working at their flower shop again and even with months gone by, she still makes her tea every day. It became their thing. Every morning, she made her tea and she knew Jamie liked it. 

Jamie did not know how or when she began to like Dani’s tea. All she knew was one day she woke up to a cup of tea and the next too, and one day she went to sleep hoping she would wake up to a cup of tea again. 

And this is how she fell in love with Dani’s tea. It was sweet, just like Dani. 

* * *

The thing about loving someone is accepting that one day you will lose them. And if you are willing to bear the pain, then you are ready to love. Jamie was ready to love. Jamie was ready to lose. But it doesn’t get easier. 

She spends the first few months in denial. She doesn’t accept it. She doesn’t accept that the love of her life is gone forever and she is alone, once more. It takes months and months for the truth to sink in and even then, it doesn’t. How come? Jamie has not one clue. She knew this would happen. She knew it all. Then why does it not sink in? 

She spends the next couple months in anger. Why does this always happen to her? Why is it that everyone she loves leaves her? Why did it have to happen to Dani? Dani, who was so selfless and sacrificed her own soul to save two kids who don’t even remember her. Why did Dani leave her all alone? 

She spends the next whole year trying to find a way out to bring Dani back. She talks to Owen and does thorough research on the Bly manor. She grabs at anything that could lead to the truth behind the lady of the lake. And she finds all. She finds all but a way to bring Dani back. 

And then on, it was just sadness. So much of it that she could feel it swallow her whole. Eating her up from inside and all she could think of was Dani.

Dani. She was everywhere except where she needed her to be. Jamie looked at reflections every single day, hoping to see a glimpse of her own lady in the lake. But she never shows. She never shows and yet, she is everywhere. When she looks at the bed they shared, she sees her. When she looks at the ring she wears, she sees her. She sees her in the golden sunsets and in the empty kitchen floor where they used to laugh all night. She sees her in her dreams and oh, how it breaks her heart to wake up once again with no Dani beside her. And she was just so awfully sad and alone. 

Days begin to get longer yet time remains on its usual path. A contradiction. How do days seem longer without time ever changing? The flowers they had grown together were no longer there. Something that belonged to them now belonged to none. To earth, maybe.

She was forgetting more and more every day and yet, something would unlock another memory. It was all she had of her; memories. And she held onto them because she could not ever let herself forget Dani. 

It did not get better. No, people are awfully wrong to believe so. You just forget things and you forget how those things made you feel. But Jamie wouldn’t. Jamie would never. 

What people don’t tell you is that accepting the inevitable doesn’t make the pain of losing someone any more bearable. Because it has been years since Dani left and Jamie still wakes up hoping to see a cup of tea again. 

And this is how Jamie had to live without Dani’s tea. It was all very bittersweet.   
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> haven’t stopped thinking about them since the first day i saw them. hope you guys liked this!


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